Notes for an Essay on Waiting Rooms

Recently I found myself in a waiting room, and while there, waiting, it occurred to me that someone should write an essay on waiting rooms. Since I always have a notebook at hand, I took some notes, and here they are, for anyone who would like to write the essay. 1. The Lit Review What have others written about waiting rooms? Not much, so far as I can tell. Plenty that is written takes place in waiting rooms, and much of that, I imagine, is read in waiting rooms–or at least, it used to be–see #3 below. There are poems about waiting rooms. See Elizabeth Bishop’s “In the Waiting Room” for just one example. I’ve read a lot of stuff over the years and I can’t believe that not much has been written about waiting room. Waiting, sure. Vladimir and Estragon famously waited for Godot, but he never showed up. I once saw a play off Broadway in New York called “Line” where a bunch of people waited in a line. Godot didn’t show up there either. I couldn’t recall E. B. White having written anything…